Suu Kyi verdict draws widespread criticism

Posted on August 11, 2009
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Suu Kyi found guilty

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was today sentenced to three years after being found guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest. The sentence was immediately reduced to 18 months of house arrest.

Suu Kyi was arrested after American John Yettaw, swam across Inya Lake to make an uninvited visit to Suu Kyi’s home. She allowed him to stay for two nights after he complained of fatigue.
The trial has been widely criticised as a sham, with Burma’s ruling military junta wanting to keep Suu Kyi out of the public eye in the run up to elections planned for next year.
The Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma) said in a statement, “The sham trial, farcical verdict, and illegitimate jail sentence that was bizarrely “commuted” to house arrest is the latest in a series of ploys designed by Burma’s military regime to ensure that the most viable pro-democracy candidates are excluded from the upcoming 2010 elections.”
They accuse the junta of reducing Suu Kyi’s sentence in an effort to win international sympathy. Debbie Stothard, Altsean-Burma’s coordinator warned, “The international community must not be fooled. Even now, the regime continues to commit atrocities against ethnic communities in Eastern Burma, torturing and killing defenceless men, women, and children.”
Stothard called for an international arms embargo against Burma and a UN Security Council Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity in Burma.
British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown also called for a ban on arms sales. In a statement, he said, “I have always made clear that the United Kingdom would respond positively to any signs of progress on democratic reform in Burma. But with the generals explicitly rejecting that course today, the international community must take action.”
French President, Nicolas Sarkozy also condemned the verdict, which he called brutal and unjust. He also called for new sanctions against the regime.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton said, “The Burmese junta should immediately end its repression of so many in its country and start a dialogue with the opposition and the ethnic groups. Otherwise the elections they have scheduled for next year will have absolutely no legitimacy.”